1. Religion, Politics, and Oil:
Southwest Asia
Section 1: The Arabian Peninsula
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2. Nations of Arabian peninsula include: Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United
Arab Emirates, Yemen
Intersection of three continents
Life in desert: families ties very strong,
nomadic dwellers - Bedouins; fighting
between families and clans for pasturelands
and livestock
Islam - monotheistic religion based on
founder - the Prophet Muhammad; Islam
brings new culture to peninsula:
Five Pillars - 1)testify no other god but Allah;
2)prayer 5 times a day - face Mecca (east) -
“jumma” or “jack”; 3) charity - giving alms;
4)fasting during Ramadan; 5)pilgrimage (hajj) to
Mecca at least once
3. Relationship between politics and
religion
Theocracy - religious leaders control the
government
Some countries exist as such in Southwest
Asia, on Arabian peninsula
After WWI and break-up of Ottoman
Empire Britain and France colonized some
parts of Southwest Asia; why valuable -
Suez Canal, oil
Other leader: Abdul al-Azia Ibn Saud - in
name of Saud family; whole area became
known as Saudi Arabia in 1932
4. Oil dominates peninsula
Huge part of economy
In 1960 OPEC - Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries - established; Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Iran, Iraq;
purpose of OPEC is to control worldwide oil
prices by adjusting oil prices and
production quotas
5. Modern Life in Arabia
Dramatic changes in 20th century, largely
b/c of economic boost of oil
Quick develop
Camels replaced by trucks, automobiles,
motorcycles
1960 25% urbanized; 1990 58% urbanized
Religious duties shape lives
Prayer - traffic stops
Combination of 21st century life and
religious life
6. Section 2: The Eastern
Mediterranean
September 2000 hundreds of people
died because of “civil unrest” on the
Temple Mount
An Israeli political leader visited Jewish
holy place - disrespectful to many Muslims
Relations between Jews, Arabs, and
Christians hostile in this region
Three major monotheistic regions -
Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Jerusalem: 42 square miles - strong
spiritual meaning
7. Judaism
Jerusalem - center of modern and ancient
homeland
Temple Mount: first temple constructed by King
Solomon, second temple in 538 BC - today known
as Western Wall - last standing wall (destroyed by
Romans in 70 AD)
Christianity
Jerusalem - final suffering and crucifixion of Jesus
Mount of Olives, Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Christians fought Muslims during Crusades; lands
in Muslim control until 1948 formation of Israel
Islam
After Mecca and Medina, Jerusalem third most
holy city
Dome of the Rock - place where the Prophet
8. History of Unrest in Area
Ottoman Empire (Muslim government based in Turkey) ruled
Eastern Mediterranean lands from 1520 to 1922
Ottoman Empire sided with Germany during WWI; after war
empire fell apart
Colonialism: Britain and France divided lands; France took
northern portion - Lebanon, Syria and Britain took southern
portion - Jordan and Israel
French played different religious groups against each other -
animosity for this still today (Syria independent in ‘46 and
Lebanon in ‘43)
Britain’s “land” known as Palestine; after, Zionism began -
goal to create and support Jewish homeland in Palestine;
before WWI 12% of population in Palestine was Jewish, after
war Jewish population expanded; more and more during
WWII, British halted Jewish immigration to Palestine (see
maps on page 512)
After WWII world opinion supported establishment of Jewish
nation-state; in ‘47 the UN developed plan to divide Palestine
into two states - one Arab and one Jewish
Arabs in region did not agree - however, Israel established
on May 14, 1948; immediately after surrounding Arab
9. Caught in middle? - Palestinian Arabs and
Christians
People either fled or forced to leave area -
refugee camps
Land designated for Palestinians on West
Bank and Gaza Strip (however, under
Israeli control)
In ‘60s, the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) formed to regain land
for Palestinian Arabs
PLO Mahmoud Abbas became prime minister
(2003) agreed to support peace plan called the
“road map”
10. Palestinian Arabs in Israel - 3.6 million
people
Refugees struggle to find food, shelter,
employment
Civil Wars in Lebanon and Cyprus; in ‘82
Israel invaded Lebanon
Infrastructure:
Countries of Eastern Mediterranean
subregion have great potential for
agriculture, tourism, trade, but lack
infrastructure
11. Modern Life in Eastern Mediterranean
Some restaurants = separate sections
based on gender
Cafes = men only
Last meal of day - between 8 and 11 pm;
large meal!
Variety of cultures - Shi’ites, Sunnis,
Druze, Christians, Maronite (Eastern
Orthodox practices), immigrants, Arab
Muslims, Bedouins, Baha’i faith of
Christians
12. Section 3: The Northeast
In ‘88 over 5,000 Kurds were murdered
from a chemical weapons attack by Iraq
Kurds occupied lands for thousands of
years = clashes of land major issue in
Northeast part of region
13. Early Civilizations
Fertile Crescent - Mesopotamia - land between
the rivers - Tigris and Euphrates
Hittites - empire stretched across Turkey
Persia - present day Iran
Ethnic and Religious Variety
Turks, Kurds, Persians - how are they different?
In language, religion
Sunni - called “Sunni” because they accept the “sunnas”
or oral traditions and interpretations of the Koran after
Muhammad’s death; believe that caliph or successor of
Muhammad should always be elected; follow Abu -
elected as first Caliph after Muhammad’s death; also,
Sunni belief is that a global caliphate will one day
emerge - a little more than 80% of Muslims are Sunni
Shi’ite - believe leadership should be directly linked to
the people of the house - or descendant of Mohammed;
many Shi’ite’s believe Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from
‘78 brought legitimacy to religious leadership; belief is
14. Clashes
Over Land
Increased since WWI - Kurds were promised
homeland, but never received
Iran has become home to refugees fleeing
from Afghanistan and Iraq - largest refugee
population in world
Persian Gulf War - 90-91 for access to
strategic oil fields - Iraq and Kuwait
Over Leadership
“war on terrorism” - many “disliked” Bush
Overthrow of Taliban (or Taleban) - March of
2002 out of power in Afghanistan
Overthrow of Saddam Hussein - Operation
Iraqi Freedom in March of 2003 - where were
the weapons of mass destruction
15. Reform
Area has limited agricultural land;
production must become efficient
Oil = money = assist infrastructure
Making progress? Turkey and Iran -
hydroelectric plants, agriculture, steel
Continued war has affected area/region -
Afghanistan
16. Modern versus tradition life
Afghanistan - Taliban, civil liberties,
education for all
Turkey - fundamentalist religious views
17. “Waltz with Bashir
One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a
recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every
night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s
a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of
the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing
anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he
decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the
world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about
himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his
memory begins to creep up in surreal images …
How does this apply to our learning of Southwest Asia?
The Lebanon War of 1982 -
Many Palestinian refugees from Israel
Aggressive attitude between PLO and Israel over land
June 6, 1982 - operation peace of Galilee - to push PLO forces back 40 KM
to the north (led by Ariel Sharon)
Israel continued to push PLO north and eventually out of country - moved
headquarters
Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel (a Christian) was assassinated
Phalangists - a Christian militia group allied with Israel - with Sabra and
Shatila Massacre - at least 800 refugees killed
Over 17,000 Lebanese were killed; 675 Israeli soldiers killed
